Exploding Coffee

April 18th, 2007

Seeing as the laser coffee video was getting so many hits, I thought I’d bump this classic Awesome Science Video of exploding coffee…
I’ve oft heard rumours on the internet that a cup of coffee made in the microwave could explode in your face, but I’d never seen any evidence for it until today. Witness, if you will, the fearful phenomenon that is superheating. Just like supercooling, pure water heated in a smooth container lacks the nucleation sites for steam bubbles to develop. The result is water above 100 degrees C that isn’t boiling. And just like its cool cousin, superheated water is highly unstable - the slightest distubance or introduction of impurities will result in an explosive “instant boil”. Scary stuff.

Entry Filed under: Awesome Science Videos

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